IdaiKadar: Inventor of Arrangement of Navagrahas in Temples

Sri IdaiKadar is one of the 18 renowned siddhars of Tamil Nadu and is considered an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He is from the region of Thiruvannamalai. Thiruvannamalai is one of the Pancha Bootha Sthalams (Five Temples where Lord Shiva is represented by each of the Five Elements). In Thiruvannamalai, he is worshipped as Fire element.

Two of the most biggest contribution of Idai Kaadar is the invention of Kayakalpa techniques and the arrangement of Navagraha (Nine Planets) in temples. Kayakalpa is an legendary system of total body rejuvenation. Kayakalpa purifies, nurtures and revitalizes the constituent elements of the body, mind and psyche with a series of customized therapy sessions, herbo-mineral preparations, vital breathing practices, dietary guidelines, and daily living recommendations.

His exact era of living is not known precisely yet. But it seems he was born on some time back in 2nd – 3rd century BC and he lived for around 600 years. Also, he seems to be from Yadhava (One of the oldest Indian community from which Lord Krishna was born) community by seeing his profession and most of his songs.

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His songs are frequently mentioning the word 'Thandava Kone', in which the word 'Kone' is a Tamil Nadu based regional name for Yadhavas.

With out any surprise, Idai Kaadar's life reflects the essence of Lord Krishna’s Bhagavad Geetha. “Do your duty, don’t expect the out come!”

He is also known to have arranged the positions of the nine planets (Nava Graha) that are being followed in the temples of India. Earlier in temples the Nava Grahas were placed circularly i.e. all the nine planets were facing each other and could interact directly. This meant that a person going through a rough patch due to the malefic influence of one planet would continue to experience bad time as all the planets were in direct contact with each other and would be passing on their effect to the next one and so on. Realizing this, Idai Kaadar arranged the planetary positions in such a way so that no one planet would face the other planet directly. He was known to end draughts.

By knowing the power of Idai Kaadar, people from the whole region started flooding to his hut and praised him equal to God. Idai Kaadar said, “Om nama shivaaya! Oh, my children! Don’t praise me for anything small I did. It’s all because of the power of Lord Shiva and Krishna. So, praising them would make you all flawless souls. Don't praise humans. Where ever the festivals were conducted for them, there will be the end less joy and happiness. Worshiping them will liberate you from your burdens and sorrows. Whenever you have tough times, believe in God, devote your whole heart and mind at the problem you are facing and the solution for it, don’t worry about the out come, do your best. You will win the battle for sure. Om nama shivaaya!”

The words of one who won the time boundaries will be the ever best words to be followed on any point in our life. Idai Kaadar attained his maha nirvana or salvation in the agni sthalam - Tiruvannamalai and it is also believed that, the karpa graham or the main lingam of Tiruvannamalai is built on top of his jeeva samadhi itself. Some other people claim that, his jeeva samadhi is behind the main lingam on the second orbit of the Lord Arunachaleswarar temple. His famous works include Idaikadar Gnyana Soothram 70 and Idaikadar Kanida Nool.

Participating Karthikai Deepam Festival at Tiruvannamalai on 08/12/2011 will be the end less joy and happiness. Most of the Tamil channels, broadcasting live on the celebrations.